706 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



JULV 15 



if handled carefull}-, will prove to be just 

 as good in every way, and easier to get the 

 sections in and out cf. 



I see our artist has made jour frame hold 

 six sections instead of four. The former 

 would not go in an ordinary standard ex- 

 tractor.— Ed. 



don't losp: your swarms; a successful 



SWARM- catcher; also a swarm ING- 

 TRAP. 



It is common in the large apiaries of Cal- 

 ifornia for six or even twelve swarms to come 

 out at a time. I have known of their doing 

 this once, and alighting in one pile. I have 

 also been bothered with an occasional aft- 

 er- swarm going into several different hives, 

 resulting in the loss of one or more queens. 

 Last season, therefore, I made a swarm- 



catcher which consisted of a frame 30X14X 

 10 inches in size, with the sides covered 

 with wire cloth. The board cover for the top 

 was removable, while the bottom was nail- 

 ed fast and chamfered on one side to allow 

 a ^-inch bee-space from the hive into the 

 swarm catcher. A strip of wood an inch 

 wide, along the entire length of the swarm- 

 catcher, extended the bee-space into the in- 

 closure. I then took two pieces of wire 

 cloth 3 inches wide and 14 inches long, and 

 tacked one on each side of 4 strips of wood, 

 YiX^i inch, by 3 inches long, making a 

 bee-space ^X14 inches. This I put in 

 front of the bee- space before mentioned, so 

 that the bees, in passing into the swarm- 

 catcher, traveled horizDntally one inch, then 

 upward 3 inches, between the two pieces of 

 wire cloth. I fasten this device in front of 

 the hive by means of a string from the up- 

 per part of the catcher to the head of a wire 

 nail bent like a fish hook, and with the 

 point sharpened, which will catch on to the 

 back of the hive. This nail should not be 

 attached to the cover or super, for they 

 sometimes come of¥ when a large swarm 

 goes in. I had two last year, and hived 

 about fifty swarms with them, with only 

 one partial failure; for one swarm was 

 partly out when I put it on, and about half 

 of the bees settled in a tree. 



Af :er fifteen or twenty minutes the swarm 



is all in, and the bees quiet. I even fix a 

 hive in ihe shade of one of my trees, take 

 mj' swarm which is secure in the catcher 

 to the hive, remove the cone from the catcher, 

 and shake the bees out in front cf the hive 

 in the usual manner. Or, if I am in the 

 midst of some work that I want to finish I 

 can set the swarm in the shade until ready 

 to hive it. Scmetimes, when I have had 

 them both in use at the same time a third 

 swarm would come out and alight on (he 

 outside of one catcher; but it is an easy 

 matter to brush those on the outside in 

 front of an empty body, and then hive the 

 other a few rods distant. 



There are a good many advantages in 

 the catcher, the most important of which is 

 that over the old way of letting the bees 

 choose their own place to cluster. This is 

 especially true where there are tall trees, 

 or when the apiarist is a lady, or when the 

 bees are left in charge of a younger mem- 

 ber his family. J. M. Mack. 



San Diego, Cal. 



[Swarm-catchers similar to this have 

 been illustrated at various times. There 

 is no question but that they serve a very 

 useful purpose at times; but the chief diffi- 

 culty is to get to the hive that is casting a 

 swarm in time to catch the bees. — Ed.] 



PHILLIPS' hive-tool AND BEE-ESCAPE. 



In Gleanings for Feb. 15 I notice a hive- 

 tool and an escape pictured and described; 

 and as I think my inventions in those lines- 

 are superior, I send ycu herewith sketches 

 and descriptions of them. The hive-tool I 

 find indispensable, and never go to my hive 

 without it. I made a wooden model and 

 took it to the smith, who forged it in steel 

 and tempered it. I then ground and filed 

 it up myself. End B is brought to an edge 



Section through f B 



all round, and is used to separate hive-bod- 

 ies, frames, etc., and for levering frames- 

 together at the bottom. As a lifting-hook, 

 put down between the frames, turn the hook 

 under the top-bar, and "up she comes." 

 The extreme end is squared for % inch, 

 and makes a good screwdriver. End A is 

 sharpened to a chisel edge, but not so sharp 

 as to cut the hand, and corners just round- 

 ed off. It answers as a scraper for the 

 tops of the frames and bottom-boards, to re- 

 move brace- combs, propolis, etc. When 

 placed between the tops of the frames and 

 end B, and swept gently round, the tightest 

 frames must part. It also makes a ham- 

 mer. Other uses will occur to the user. 



As for the escape, I think the sketch will 

 be clear. Place the bottom- board; pile 

 hives of supers on, with board on top; put 



